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User blog:Asarane/Chapter 3: Sacrifice
(Three months later) From her perch in the trees, she could see the entire town. Children ran through the streets, desperately trying to get to the jobs they were assigned to. Running with the speed of panic. Terrified of the overseers. “Well?” She shifted to speak to the source of the voice. Zorgoth was watching her expectantly. “I don’t see her.” “Can you smell her, Gabi?” “Don’t call me Gabi, it isn’t as regal as Gabriella.” He snorted. “Soooooooo what? Does it really matter?” “Yes, it does matter, and no, because I have never smelled her before.” “What do you mean? Why do you want to kill her if you have never even smelled her before? How do you know what she looks like, but not what she smells like?!” Gabriella thought back, she had been sifting through that boys thoughts. The main thing the boy remembered was her face, so not too much use. He had smelled her, but his sense of smell hadn’t been very good. “Well, I have.” She lied. “It just has been years.” She hoped he didn’t know he was only a couple days older than her. “Oh.” Good, he didn’t know. She returned to watching the town. One child caught her eye. It had a head full of golden hair. The only one she had seen yet. About the age of that boy. If only the stupid creature would raise its head! “Zorgoth!” She said. “Watch that girl, if she looks up a bit, tell me.” “Whatever you wish, Gabriella.” She turned back to the village. Wait- dragons? They are everywhere in the village! What if I went down and pretended I was supposed to be there? “Zorgoth, look at the dragons that are in the village!” “Oh no, no, no, no, and no. You are not going down there. I am supposed to protect you!” “I say I am going down there. You can’t stop me.” “Females!” He muttered. “So stubborn!” Here he raised his voice to the normal level. “No, I can’t stop you, but think hard. You know I will die if you are killed.” “I won’t be. You know that they want slaves, not corpses. If I am captured, I will rely on you to save me, and anyway, I won’t be caught.” He groaned. “Nothing I say will stop you?” “Nothing.” She turned and swiftly climbed down the tree. Upon reaching the ground, she marched into town with her head held high, trying to look confident for Zorgoth. Inside she was terrified. The townspeople bow whenever she walked past, just as they would to any other dragon. She made her way towards the girl. The child was just opening a door to a building when Gabriella reached her. She didn’t want the child to escape into the house, so she dashed forward and seized the girl in her teeth. Covering her from her head to her waist, so that she couldn’t cry out. Then, she leapt into the air. Flying away from the town. It occurred to her that this might draw attention too late. The human creatures started running around frantically, and three dragons with riders took flight. She opened her jaws to release the human, and reached out her front legs to snag her. She missed. The girl flew through the air. Gabriella plunged down towards her, not wanting to chance her escaping alive. She grabbed her just before the she hit the ground. She looked up. The other dragons were closing in. A Green and two Reds. All male. Strange. That means poison gas and fire. She spun around and flew out from under their tails. The Reds were both rather large, so they took a while to turn around. By the time they had, she was out of range. She could hear their riders cursing them. The Green, however, wasn’t as slow. It was, in fact, almost as fast as her. She didn’t want to draw it towards Zorgoth, so she flew in the opposite direction of him. When she thought she was far enough away to slip the Green, she dove for the trees. Dropping the girl on the ground she hid. After a while, she was sure she had escaped. She approached the girl. Time to finish her. Zorgoth must not get to close. She was about to kill her, when the Green came swooping down almost on her head. It snarled when it saw she wasn’t in the exact spot he thought she was. It started towards her. She panicked and acted as fast as she could. She felt her energy flow out of her. The girl’s golden hair began to blacken at her scalp. It spread slowly out. “Don’t kill her!” She heard the Green yell. She focused harder. The girl disappeared entirely. The Green ran forward. “Why would you do that?!” He roared. He grabbed her by the neck with his teeth, immobilizing her. “We all have our reasons.” She snapped back. She felt her body collapse. She sighed, as sleep overtook her. “Where is she? I won’t ask again!” Zorgoth said. He had snuck into the village during the night, and had attacked the Green who had taken her. “Look, I really don’t know! The Trainers, -here he shuddered violently- took her when I brought her back.” “Why did you take her in the first place, traitor?” “Traitor? I am not! Well, yeah, I am. But I have no choice. My Rider controls me.” “A pathetic human controls you?” “Yes! Mind control. They say it is taught to each Rider by The Dark Lord himself!” “The Dark Lord? I thought the Circle did that!” “Oh, no, no, no! That’s what they want you to think! Will you please let me up now?” Zorgoth sat back, letting the Green stand. “I am sorry, I am her Keeper, assigned by The Spirits themselves. I must save her. What is your name, broken one?” “Wind-walker, lord.” “That doesn’t sound like a dragon name.” “It is the one the humans gave me.” “Your true name tells much about your destiny, what is your true name?” “I- I do not know lord. It has been destroyed by the humans.” “Destroyed? How?” “They have ways, they take our true names and wipe them away, no dragon knows theirs.” “I know mine, and Gabriella knows hers. I am sure there are other dragons out there. We will find them, and free our kind.” “That sounds like a great dream, if only it would happen.” Wind-walker sighed. Zorgoth stared at him indignantly. “It isn’t a dream! It will happen! Come with us, and we’ll prove you wrong!” “I can’t come! If they catch me…” “They won’t catch you. We leave in the night. I just need to know where Gabi is.” Wind-walker relented. “Oh, alright. Come with me. I think they will send her off tomorrow. I don’t know where they keep them before sending them off, but I have a good guess.” ''' '''Saying this, he got up and crept out of the barn they were in. Zorgoth felt slightly jealous of the captive dragons. He slept on the cold, hard ground, they slept in barns. I’d rather be free anyday, though. They went through the dragon village, which was slightly separate from the village the humans stayed in. Zorgoth learned from Wind-walker that the human village was called Etai. He noted, with some amusement, that Etai literally meant fish. “Is it a fishing village?” He had asked upon learning the name. “Why, yes, it is. How did you know?” “Do you not know the Language of Spirits? All dragons should.” Wind-walker did not know the Language. Zorgoth shook his head. This was unbelievable. These dragons know nothing! He thought. “What do you know?” He asked. “Well, let me see. We know how to speak with humans.” “I know how to do that, so, not much.” “Uh, well, I guess I don’t know much. I know what the signals the Riders give me mean.” “So the most you know is how to take commands?” “No! I mean, yes.” “Hmmm. You really must come with us. We could teach you so much.” “I guess it would be worth it. I want to do something, I guess this is my only chance to get out of here. Ah, here we are.” They were in the middle of the forest. Zorgoth saw nothing. “I don’t see anything.” He suddenly smelled humans, swarms of humans. “Is this a trap?” He asked, suspiciously. “I- I had to. He has my mind.” Zorgoth whipped around. The two Reds that had chased Gabriella stood there, their mouths open in horrible grins. “Well, well, well. Wind-walker did something right for a change.” The larger of the two said. “Run along, runt. We have this handled.” The Green looked at Zorgoth with sorrow in his eyes, and ran into the forest. The Reds penned Zorgoth in. He snapped at both of them, but even the smaller one was twice his size. Swarms of humans ran up, throwing nets embedded with stones over him. He thrashed in rage, but everytime he moved, he was entangled further. The last thing he saw, was the two Reds, laughing over him. She woke slowly. Who was she? Where was she? She couldn’t answer either question. She slowly stood, and looked herself over. She was wearing simple clothes. Just a shirt that felt like a potato sack, and a skirt of the same fabric. They were both brown. Maybe they are potato sacks! She thought. She looked around. Trees. Everywhere. The leaves turned the sunlight green. She stared around. She had never seen such a magical place. Well, it felt magical, and it looked magical. She was enveloped in beauty. I could stay here forever. In fact, I think I will. She was snapped out of her thoughts when she saw something moving toward her. Slowly. It moved as if it was floating. It had its head down. Looking at the ground. She turned to run. And it spoke. Exactly what it said she didn’t know, but she somehow understood what it meant. She didn’t want to stop, however, and kept running. The trees reached for her, and she was soon held in midair. The thing came closer. As it approached, she made out more of it. It didn’t seem to have legs. Where they should have been, was a green vapor with brown running through it. Its torso looked like a rib cage made of branches with leaves filling it, and vines running around it. Vines trailed from its torso around its- legs. It was eerie. Its head was shaped like a human head, but made a leaves entirely. It had eyes like emeralds. They glowed, and she could see power within. It spoke again. “Ei goul seil Spirit?” She shook her head to try to tell it she didn’t understand. “Ah.” It said. “Do you speak this language, then?” “Uh, yes? If you mean Narduradinian.” “Oh, I had forgotten what it was called. No wonder, with a name like that! What is your name, child?” “I don’t know. I have forgotten it. Where am I, might I ask?” “You are in The Woods.” “I know that I am in the woods, I mean which woods!” “No, no, no dear child. You are in The Woods.” “I’m most sorry, but I don’t understand.” “Oh. Yet another who suffers from the spell.” “What spell? Sir, or lady, or whatever! You are being most mysterious!” The creature sighed. “I cannot tell you about the spell, you shall die if you learn. As for me being a sir, or a lady, I am a lady. But, do not assume that of my siblings, most of them are rather prickly. You may call me Madam Garzolous.” “That is an awfully long name.” “It is my name, and not nearly as long as Nardimudanian, or whatever that language is called. As for your name, I cannot grant you one right now, you must earn one. Right now I bestow upon you the title The Wanderer.” “The Wanderer? Why that name?” “It isn’t a name my dear, it is your title. You have no name. Find me when you have earned one. I shall tell you how to earn one in a moment. Why the Wanderer you ask? Because that is what you shall be, until you earn your name. Once you have, I will take you in.” “What must I do to earn a name?” She cried. “I would do anything! Having no name is more bothersome than anything!” “You must help someone. He will come this way, accompanied by dragons. You must help him, or you shall never earn a name.” And so, Madam Garzolous began to dissipate. “Wait! Wait, Madam Garzolous! Who is this boy?” The Wanderer asked, desperately. “You must find out for yourself. You will know him when you see him, farewell Wanderer. And may my Lord protect you.” With that final goodbye, the queer Madam disappeared, and The Wanderer was alone. She sat with her back against a tree, and cried herself to sleep. Gabriella woke. She was moving. She slowly raised her head to look around. As she did, her memories flooded back. She was laying in an uncomfortable position in a cage. The cage was big enough for her to lay in, but she couldn’t stand up. She peered out of the cage. The first thing she saw, was Zorgoth. He was laying in a cage across the passage. He was covered in blood from the end of his snout, to the tip of his tail. She barely recognized his beautiful golden scales. He was awake. Staring at her with an awful sorrow in his eyes. She had to look away. His pain was her fault. She looked around the room. The walls clattered. She was in a moving wagon. She had seen a couple on the way to Etai, but nothing large enough to carry two dragons! “Zorgoth?” She whispered. “Are you okay?” He shifted, groaning. “Zorgoth?” She said, terror started to overtake her. He must have heard it in her voice because with great effort he spoke. “I’m… Fine….” He said, his voice sounding strained. The sound of it did not help one bit. She bit down on the bars to keep from screaming. “Gabi? Are... You okay?” She smiled. Gabi… Maybe it wasn’t that bad. “I’m okay, dear, just look after yourself. You are in much worse condition.” “... okay…” She wished she could do more. She wished she could cause him to escape, but she knew he would chase her captors to the ends of the earth. “Zorgoth?” “Yes?” “You must get out of here, somehow.” “No. I can’t. You must get out. I learned from Wind-walker that the Dark Lord is gathering all Silvers and Golds. If he doesn’t get you, he can’t use you for whatever he wants.” “But, Silvers and Golds! He wants you too!” “I can take it.” “You don’t know what it is!” “Whatever.” “And you said females were stubborn.” She rolled her eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but the door in the front swung open. They both swung their heads to look at it. Two humans walked in. They wore black robes that went down to their knees. The queer thing about the robes, was that the sleeves only went halfway to their elbows, this showed extremely muscular arms. Under the robes, they had what looked like black skirts. Gabriella found this funny, because they were both male. She didn’t understand why, but humans thought this was weird. They had matching black hair, and looked very young. Maybe seventy seasons at most. No matter how young they looked, their faces could have been carved of stone. Their eyes glowed with an eerie light, and they walked right for her. Zorgoth watched the black-robed humans approach his mate. As he watched, she raised her eyes to theirs. She stared with an intensity that scared him. It unsettled the humans as well. They both stepped back. In sync. They did everything in sync. I wouldn’t be staring them in the eye if I were her. Zorgoth thought. I’d be trying to disappear. The humans, seemed to have recovered their confidence, and walked right up to the cage Gabriella was in. Zorgoth could see that she was about to spit quicksilver, when the humans threw the cage open and slammed something on her face. It was metal. Five straps of leather went under her chin, and two pieces of of metal clamped around her face. The metal most resembled jaws. Crossing each other. Their were teeth in them that interlocked, making it so that it couldn’t come off unless a special button was pressed. After they clamped that on her, they turned to him. He knew that he was helpless without sunlight, but he desperately tried to summon his power anyway. They just opened the door to the cage and slammed the same kind of contraption on his face. It felt worse than he expected. The metal dug into his snout. Well? Gabi said in his mind. Are they this dumb? I am not sure. He responded. ' '''All of the sudden, he felt something wrench into his mind. The human was creating a link with him. He didn’t know how, but it was. He felt uncertainty first and foremost. It poured off the boy, for boy he was. Just by a quick check, he learned the child was only sixty-nine seasons old! That was only about seventeen by human standards! ''So small. He thought. ''The''y'' really put children in charge of dragons?'' He had, unfortunately, forgotten the child was in his head. The boy’s rage swelled. You will stay your tongue!'' The child shouted in his mind.' '''Zorgoth tried to calm him. I meant no harm, little one, I was just worried for your welfare, dragons are dangerous.'' This very obviously was not the right wording.' '''I am not little one, I am your new master! And I need no protection, I am far stronger than all the dragons I have ever trained. You are sure of this, yet you have always had the help of others, yes? ''' '''The response came so swiftly, it had to have been rehearsed. I need no help, I am the strongest, none can defeat me. Very well.'' Zorgoth sighed. 'You are set. There is no talking to a brainwashed numbskull.' 'You will pay for saying that. The child, Thraddrul, threatened. The Dark Lord has his ways…' 'Oh no, I am so scared. Zorgoth said, trying to harness his terror.' '''Gabriella was having a considerably better time. She had learned who exactly the Dark Lord was, and that the reason she was wanted, wasn’t know to any except the Dark Lord himself. The Dark Lord was the one dragon, other than those in hiding, who lives free. More than free really. He was exalted above all others, human or dragon, and is the real power behind everything. He was apparently the biggest dragon ever. His name was still unknown. He kept to himself, except when he was telling the Circle what to do, and was generally kind to enslaved dragons but when disobeyed, however, he was the most monstrous creature in existence. He was known to have no patience with humans, the only ones with protection, were the Dark Guard. He always said they would be dead if they weren’t so hard to train. What she was wanted for, she couldn’t find out. Also, she now knew the child’s name, Hraadas. Not that it mattered. ''Oh, Zorgoth. She said. What are we going to do?''' Category:Blog posts